It's just a matter of time before we learn how to fly
by Aerle
Summary: "I'm fine." He paused. "You're one of them, aren't you? A superhero?" Marco scratched the back of his head. "I wouldn't call myself that." "A vigilante then." When Marco made a face again, Ace sighed. "Whatever, you have superpowers." Umbrella Academy!AU
1. Chapter 1

Title from the song When can I see you again? by Owl City

* * *

"Can I get another one?"

Marco picked up his glass and wiggled it, as he had done multiple times that night. Or rather, morning. By now, even the saddest of Ace's regulars had crawled back to where they came from.

Ace put down the glass he was washing and picked up the bottle of whiskey he had been pouring from all night. "You know, I'd cut you off if I didn't think you'd be able to hold your liquor." It was, after all, not Marco's first night here, and Ace had seen him put away quite a bit.

"It's good stuff," Marco replied. "And it helps I got a cute bartender." He smiled sheepishly.

Ace rolled his eyes. Marco wasn't very subtle with his flirting, but he was also not pushy or annoying. Ace had never encouraged him more than topping off his drink a little, though he hadn't explicitly turned him down either. If it helped sell more booze… A guy had to eat.

"Well, you're single handedly funding the bar with the stuff you're drinking. You must have a good job."

Marco shrugged as he took a sip of the glass just placed in front of him. "Family money."

"Ah, drinking away your inheritance. Well, my hypothetical future children thank you." Ace made a mocking bow and started drying glasses. "However, this will be your last one. I'm closing up."

Marco nodded and took another sip.

They settled into silence for a while, Ace washing and drying glasses and Marco drinking his whiskey. Marco had been coming to the bar for a while, not every night like some of his regulars, but often enough to become a friendly face. They chatted often, if the amount of customers allowed it, and Ace liked him. Not in the way Marco was probably interested, Ace intended to keep their relationship professional. But Marco was smart and funny, he didn't cause trouble and always paid his tab at the end of the evening, which was more than Ace could say of some of his other regulars.

When Marco had nearly finished his drink, the door of the bar opened and two men entered. Ace immediately recognised them. Those bastards came earlier every time.

Not to alarm Marco, Ace casually strolled around the bar and toward the door. "Sorry, boys, I'm about to close. You'll have to look for booze elsewhere."

"You know that's not why we're here," one of the men spat. His jacket shifted a little.

Ace felt Marco's hand on his as to stop him. Fuck, he'd seen the gun too.

"Yeah, well, how about you let my customer through and we can go to business," he replied coolly.

The first man pulled his gun and aimed it at Marco's head. "How about you get us the money and I don't blow your customer's brains out."

Ace's heart was racing, and he grit his teeth. Marco looked awfully cool considering the situation, but that man had one hell of a poker face. He could be terrified, and why the hell shouldn't he be? Civilians were not that often held at gunpoint. Well, civilians that weren't extorted by the mob, like Ace was.

"Just let him go, he has nothing to do with… this," Ace trailed off.

Marco had moved his hand, but not, as anyone with common sense would do in the same situation, to raise it in defence. Instead, he'd slapped the mobster's hand. It had looked like he barely touched him, yet the gun flew through the room, hitting the wall on the other side and leaving a dent.

For a moment, they all stood frozen, both mobsters, flabbergasted, Ace, terrified, and Marco with his hand still raised and completely unbaffled.

"Fuck," Ace finally said.

Somehow, that seemed to wake the mobsters from their trance. The one who had lost his gun aimed to punch Marco, but Marco was quicker, driving his own fist onto the mobster's stomach and sending him flying. The man landed on a table in the corner.

The other man drew his gun, but before he could fire, Marco caught his arm, forcing it upward until there was a painful snap. The man screamed but still tried to attack Marco with his good arm. Marco kicked him in the chest, sending him through the window.

The door flew open again and more mobsters entered shooting. Ace dove behind the bar. Bottles of liquor exploded and glass and alcohol rained down on him as he protected his head.

From behind the bar, he could hear the shooting stop, followed by pained groans and grunts. Ace peeked over the edge of the bar, where Marco was single handedly beating up the mobsters, without effort, it seemed. He hardly had to touch them for them to fly across the room. A few lay unconscious around the room, with their guns scattered between them. Every time a mobster was stupid enough to try to pick one up, Marco launched an attack on him or threw one of his buddies at him.

After what could only have been a few minutes, the mobsters scrambled out of the door, taking their unconscious colleagues with them.

Once he was certain the criminals were gone, Ace rose, wiping the glass and liquid from his hair. Marco was standing by the broken window, looking outside, no doubt checking if the coast was clear. When he noticed Ace, he turned around. "Are you okay?" He took a step towards Ace, but Ace stepped back.

"I'm fine." He paused. "You're one of them, aren't you? A superhero?"

Marco scratched the back of his head. "I wouldn't call myself that."

"A vigilante then." When Marco made a face again, Ace sighed. "Whatever, you have superpowers."

"Yes," Marco admitted. He scratched the back of his head. "I'm sorry about the mess."

"It's fine. The bar's insured."

In the distance, sirens wailed and came closer.

"Shit. I'm not crazy about cops. Do you have a back door?" Marco asked.

Ace rolled his eyes. "Figures. Yeah, you can go through the back room." He pointed to the door behind the bar.

"Thanks." Marco hesitated for a second as if he wanted to say something, but then fled through the door.

The sirens stopped as a car parked next to the bar. Soon, two officers entered the remainders of the bar. They introduced themselves and asked what had happened.

Ace eyed the door in the back. "I was about to close when a few of those mob guys entered. They must have been from rivalling gangs, because they immediately started to fight. As you can see, they destroyed the bar."

"Did you see what happened?"

"Can't say I did. As soon as the first punch was thrown, I hid behind the bar. Finally, they all left. I don't know why."

"Are you hurt?"

"No."

"Are you the owner?"

Ace shook his head. "The owner is… not available at the moment."

One of the cops pointed at the security camera in the corner. "Does that work?"

"No," Ace lied. "It's a dummy."

The cop wrote something down. "Perhaps we'll have more luck with the camera from across the street."

They asked a few more questions, but since Ace was certainly not the only victim of mob extortion, the officers were soon satisfied.

"We'll be in touch," they said as they left.

Once they had pulled the door shut behind them, Ace looked around the mess in the bar and sighed. He was dead tired, but he also didn't feel like leaving the mess to tonight. Besides, he should probably seal off the window.

Walking to the door leading to the backroom, Ace was startled to find Marco still there. He was flopped down on the beaten down couch.

"You're still here?" Ace asked, reaching for the broom that was standing in the corner.

Marco removed his hand from under his jacket. It was red.

Ace sighed and pulled out his phone.

"No hospital," Marco croaked. Ace only now noted how sweaty and panting he was.

"No shit," Ace snapped. "People who aren't fond of cops generally aren't thrilled about hospitals either. I'm calling my brother."

"Hello?" Sabo's sleepy voice said.

"How the hell could you sleep through all that?" Ace scolded him.

"Sleep through what? I was wearing earplugs."

"You heard your phone."

"It was on vibrate."

Ace sighed. "Whatever. Just come down here and bring the first aid kit. I need you to stitch someone up. I'll explain later. Oh, and bring Luffy."

He hung up before Sabo could ask any questions. As he waited for his brothers to arrive, Ace dampened a clean towel and walked over to Marco. Marco had still pressed his hand against his side. Ace pulled it away and helped Marco out of his jacket. He then inspected the wound. There was a nasty gash in Marco's side, from a knife it seemed. Ace hadn't even seen a knife during the fight.

"It was a lucky shot," Marco croaked.

"Yeah, yeah." Ace lifted up Marco's shirt and gently pressed the dampened cloth against the wound.

Footsteps stormed down the stairs and the door that led to the apartment upstairs opened.

"You have some explaining to do," Sabo said. He was only clad in pyjama bottoms, but he had the first aid kit with him, in addition to his own instruments. "The hell, Ace?" he said when he spotted Marco. Luffy followed Sabo down the stairs, still rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

Ace sighed. "This is Marco, a regular. He got hurt when fighting like six mob guys."

"Eight, but who's counting?" Marco said and groaned when Sabo knelt down next to him and removed the damp towel.

Sabo cast a questioning look at Ace.

"He has powers," Ace said.

Luffy was suddenly awake. "Ooh, that's so cool! What kind of powers?"

"Super strength." Ace looked questioning at Marco in case he wanted to add anything, but Marco just nodded and grit his teeth as Sabo poked at his wound.

"Which is why I need you, Lu. You need to help me hold him down."

"Give me your belt," Sabo said to Ace. "I don't have any anesthetics," he explained to Marco. "Also, I am a student nurse and I have only practiced on oranges before, so I'm completely unqualified to do this. Hold him down," he said to Ace and Luffy as he shoved Ace's belt between Marco's teeth, before he could protest.

As Ace and Luffy held on to Marco tightly while Sabo stitched up the wound, Ace could feel Marco's muscles tensing up, trying to hold himself back. It was a good thing, too, as Ace was pretty sure Luffy and he, despite not being the weakest in the bunch, would to be able to hold Marco down if he used full force. Ace had seen what kind of strength Marco possessed.

"There, all done," Sabo finally said as he put a bandage over the now stitched up wound. "You shouldn't move around too much in the next few days."

Ace took the belt out of Marco's mouth. There were deep bite marks in the leather and Ace hoped they wouldn't be too recognisable as teeth when he wore it.

"We should bring Marco home," he said.

"Yeah, I should put on pants for that. Lu, you too." Sabo dragged Luffy back upstairs.

"How are you feeling?" Ace asked.

"Like I've just been stitched up by a student nurse." Marco sighed. "But I'll live."

"Maybe that'll teach you not to beat up eight mobsters."

"They're extorting you. How could I let that slide?"

Ace snorted. "Now who isn't a superhero?"

"I'm not." Marco sighed. "Just let me know next time they bother you, okay? I can protect you."

"I don't need protection," Ace huffed. "And if you say now, 'you should always use protection', I will slap you, I don't care that you're wounded."

"Not protection. Just… insurance."

"I have insurance, thank you very much, which will pay for the damage that you did."

"Geez," Marco said. "It's not like I expect you to thank me on your bare knees, but I was just trying to help you." He paused for a second. "It's the super powers, isn't it? You don't like them."

"I do not."

"Not to brag, but it's actually a turn on for most people."

Ace rolled his eyes. "Well, I'm not most people."

"Yeah, I got that."

Just then, Sabo and Luffy came back downstairs, dressed this time. Together, they hoisted Marco in the back of the car and Sabo crawled behind the wheel.

"Where to?"

"Moby Dick Academy."

"Yeah, we could have guessed that," Ace muttered as he put on his seatbelt.

"Are we gonna meet the other supers as well?" Luffy asked, sitting way too close to Marco as he bounced excitedly up and down.

"If they're there, yes," Marco said and hissed as they hit a speedbump. "It's good to see someone in the family doesn't judge supers immediately."

"Please, Luffy gets excited about a tennis ball. Of course he gets excited about supers too." Ace rolled his eyes.

"Be nice," Sabo hissed.

Ace huffed and didn't speak again for the rest of the ride.

Finally, Sabo parked in front of an enormous building, fenced off from the rest of the world with an iron fence with pointed tips. Above the fence, the words "Moby Dick Academy" were written. While the building didn't look inviting whatsoever, the moment they approached, Sabo and Ace supporting Marco, someone came running out of the building.

The boy was about Ace's and Sabo's age, with brown hair. As soon as he had evaluated the situation, he turned his head and shouted. "Pops! Marco got hurt. Again!"

When they had reached the gate, the boy opened it for them. Just then, two men exited the building. One was built like a house, with black hair in several small buns and a black beard. The other was older, bald with a large wide moustache. He was giant, too, leaning on a cane, and had a friendly face.

"Well, well, playing hero again, son?" the elderly man said smiling.

"It's nothing, Pops. I just got stabbed a little," Marco replied, wincing.

The black haired man clucked his tongue disapprovingly. "Stabbed. I'm disappointed in you, Marco."

"It was a lucky shot. In fact, there were a lot of actual shots that missed," Marco said defensively. "Besides, we can't all have impenetrable skin."

"Oooh, you're Diamond Jozu!" Luffy exclaimed, his eyes turning into stars. "Can I stab you?"

Juzu shrugged grinning. "If you like."

"Lu, we don't stab," Ace started, then pinched the bridge of his nose as Luffy was already running towards Jozu with a raised pocket knife, "people."

"Look, Ace, it's true!" Luffy called excitedly. He was holding up the pocket knife which currently didn't contain a knife anymore. Jozu's skin was unmarred.

"Showoff," Marco muttered.

"That's so cool!" Luffy exclaimed. "What's your power?" He turned to the brown haired boy.

"Oh, you can't see mine," the boy replied with a grin.

"Boo." Luffy pouted. "No fun."

"No, you literally can't see it," the boy said and turned invisible.

Luffy's eyes turned into stars again. "That's so cool! Where are you?" With his arms stretched out before him, he started walking around the fenced off area.

The elderly man chuckled and turned to Ace and Sabo. "Thank you for bringing my boy back in one piece."

"Well, he did fight off mobsters for me, I guess," Ace said. "Despite the fact I didn't ask him to."

The elderly man threw his head in his neck and laughed loudly. "That sounds like Marco."

"I stitched up his wound, but Marco really should take it easy for a while," Sabo said quickly, before Marco could interject.

"I'll make sure he does," the elderly man said, leaning with two hands on his cane. "Jozu, Haruta, would you help your brother inside?"

Jozu and an invisible force took over Marco from Ace and Sabo, despite the fact that Luffy was still calling for Haruta elsewhere. As he was carried inside, Marco looked over his shoulder – and straight through Haruta – one last time. He seemed a little sad, but Ace refused to feel guilty.

"So, considering there were mobsters and Marco, are there any damages?" the elderly man asked. "I'd be happy to reimburse you if your house got damaged."

"Bar," Ace corrected him. "It's not mine. And it's insured, so we should get it all back."

The elderly man nodded, his lips pursed. "All right. Just let me know if there is anything I can do for you."

"No, thank you. I already declined Marco's offer for protection. We'll be fine on our own. Have a nice day, sir." Brusquely, he turned around and started walking towards the car.

"Lu, come on!" Sabo called. "He's already gone."

Luffy stopped abruptly waving his arms around and pouted again. "Boo."

"You could have been nicer," Sabo said to Ace as they walked back to the car.

Ace rolled his eyes. "I was polite, isn't that enough?" Sabo's look told him that Sabo didn't think so. Ace sighed. "Look, what do you want from me? You know I don't like supers."

"Yes, and I know why, but-"

"And I'm fine with Luffy being a fan, and Marco's free to spend as much money on booze as he wants. Doesn't mean I have to be nice. Just polite." He sat down in the passenger's seat and pulled the door shut hard.

"Yes," Sabo said, sitting down behind the wheel, "but…"

"Can we just drop it, please?" Ace leaned with his head on his hand against the window. "Let's just go back to the bar. We have a lot of cleaning up to do."


	2. Chapter 2

Stephan was very energetic today. One minute, he was peeing against a tree, the next he rushed past Marco to sniff something unidentifiable, only to dash after a bird the next. Marco let him; if Stephan exhausted himself, he would spend all evening sleeping on Pops' lap, something Pops secretly enjoyed very much.

Stephan was just sniffing something that looked like it died a long time ago, when he suddenly looked up, his ears pricked up.

"What is it, boy?" Marco asked.

Stephan barked once and then dashed off, leaving Marco sighing behind.

While Marco could easily catch up with the dog, he wasn't feeling like putting in any effort – like, more than a stroll – so leisurely, he walked after Stephan.

Turning the corner, he froze. Stephan ran towards someone who was busy putting back a plastic sheet to cover what had once been a window. Ace.

Stephan didn't jump him like the good boy he was, but he did run half circles around Ace, barking and wagging his tail excitedly. As soon as Ace noticed him, he dropped down on his knees, something Stephan eagerly took advantage of.

"What's this?" Marco heard Ace ask. "Who are you?" He laughed as Stephan licked his face. "Oh, I know _what _ you are. You're a good boy, aren't you?"

Stephan barked excitedly when Ace ruffled his fur.

"I thought so. Are you here all by yourself?" Stephan bit him playfully and he laughed again. "Alright, alright, I surrender!"

Marco bit his lip. He hadn't seen Ace since the incident a few days ago, and he wasn't sure how Ace was going to react to seeing him. Not well, if his 180 turn in attitude was something to go by. Before he knew about Marco's superpowers, he had enjoyed Marco's company. Not so much after.

Still, he could hardly go back without Stephan. His brothers would have a field day with him; fighting eight mobsters was no problem, but talking to the guy he liked?

Marco groaned, then took a deep breath. Time to face the music.

Ace was just trying to get a piece of plastic back from Stephan, who was wagging his tail so hard, Marco wouldn't be surprised if he launched himself off the ground, when Ace seemed to notice someone approaching. "Is this your dog? He's super…"

He trailed off when he looked up at Marco. "Oh, it's you." With a huff, he rose to his feet. "Don't tell me this is your dog?"

"It's not," Marco said, his stomach dropping from the coldness in Ace's voice. "He's Pops' dog. I'm just walking him."

"Right." Silence. "Shouldn't you be in bed recovering?" Ace grabbed the tape off the ground, shooting an apologetic look at Stephan when he whined.

"I'm a fast healer."

Ace rolled his eyes so hard, Marco could almost hear it. "Of course you are. What are you doing here? Checking if you can trash the bar again? Or are you just here for booze?" He tore off a piece of tape with his teeth so angrily it almost appeared painful.

Something snapped in Marco then. "Well, _excuse me_ for saving your butt."

Ace whipped around. "Saved by butt, my ass!" He blinked, as if he had confused himself, but then angrily shook his head. "You don't know these guys! They'll be back first chance they get."

"So they haven't been back yet?"

"No, there's nothing to get here yet. The place is still trashed. But they will."

"We offered to pay for the damages," Marco countered. "And to protect you."

"Insurance pays for the damages. It just takes a while before I get the money. Bureaucracy and all that. As for your protection, you can stuff that in a place the sun don't shine." Ace turned back to the window and brusquely slammed the tape against the wall. "Honestly, the world would be better off without you supers."

He had said it softly, but the words still cut Marco like a knife. Pops had warned them that there would always people against them, who would fear what was different. Pops had taken in as many super children as he could find and had been allowed, exactly to make them see that there were others like them, other kids with super powers. That being different was good. And he had learned them to control their powers and use them for good.

His fists clenched at his sides as he took deep breaths to steady his voice. Ace had his back still turned to him, fixing the plastic sheet to the wall and blissfully unaware of what was going on inside Marco. Not for long.

"So," Marco finally said, somehow choking out the word without his voice trembling, "what exactly are you mad about here? Me beating up those mobsters? Or me having superpowers?"

Ace looked around, surprise evident on his face as he clearly hadn't expected that question.

"Because it seems to me that you liked me just fine before you knew about my powers. In fact, I'd say you liked me better than most of your clientele. Maybe not the way I like you, but still." He quickly continued, not giving Ace time to dwell on that accidental confession. "But it seems now, you resent me for something I can't even do anything about. That's like the basic definition of discrimination. But whatever. I won't bother you with my existence again. Come on, Stephan."

Stephan whined, seemingly torn between following his master and getting more snuggles from Ace. Eventually, though, he followed Marco, his tail hanging limply behind him.

"Wait."

Even if Marco hadn't stopped on his own, Stephan grabbed him by his pant leg, forcing him to a halt. Petting Stephan reassuringly, Marco turned around.

Ace stood somewhat awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck as he evaded eye contact with Marco. "You're right." He bit his lip, looking awfully adorable, and Marco felt his anger melt away.

"I- I have been treating you differently since I found out about your powers. I- I have some issues. Well, a lot of them." He laughed awkwardly before turning serious again. "I'm sorry."

Marco considered his apology, then nodded.

Ace turned, and Marco thought he was just going to leave, but at the door of the bar, Ace gestured with his head inside.

Hesitantly, Marco followed, but at the door, he stopped. "Are dogs allowed?"

"Yeah, of course."

Marco made to step inside, then put his foot back on the threshold. "Am _I_ allowed?"

Ace turned back to him, just so he could see him roll his eyes. "Oh, come on. Don't be like that. I said I was sorry."

Marco huffed, but stepped inside. Inside, the worst mess had been clean up. Broken furniture had been removed and the glass had been cleaned up. However, the room had lost a lot of its ambiance, now that most walls were bare. Behind the bar, there were a few new shelves installed, but they hadn't been filled with bottles of various kinds of alcohol.

"I really did a number here, huh?" Marco muttered as he sunk down on a bar stool.

"Yeah, well, you didn't break anything I can't replace." Ace put a glass of whiskey in front of Marco. "Here, on the house. Consider it a peace offer."

Marco eyed the clock. "It's barely noon."

Ace shrugged. "Hey, if you don't want it…" He made to remove the glass, but Marco hastily grabbed it.

"Well, now that you poured it…" He took a sip.

Ace grinned in a way Marco missed a lot. He then rummage about underneath the bar, before walking around it carrying a bowl of water which he put in front of Stephan. Stephan immediately started slobbering it up, spilling half of it on the floor.

Marco shot a disapproving look at Stephan, but since Ace didn't seem to mind, he turned back to his beverage. "So," he said, "mind me asking why you dislike supers so much? Since your brothers don't seem to mind them."

Ace's face fell a little as he wiped a glass dry. "I… I prefer not to talk about it. Let's just keep it at I didn't have a good experience with a super. But I'll work on the generalising," he hastily added. "Deal?"

Marco smiled and took a sip. "Yeah, that sounds good to me."

"So," Ace said, as he dried another glass, "do you want to talk about how you like me?"

Marco nearly spat out his whiskey. "Yeah, _I_ prefer not to talk about _that_."

Ace let out something between a huff and a laugh. "Okay."

As he went back to washing and drying glasses, Marco stared musing at his whiskey, his lips pursed. "Hypothetically," he started slowly, "if I didn't have superpowers. Would I have stood a chance?"

"Honestly, I don't know," Ace said as he let the dirty water drain away. "I've just never thought of you like that. I mean, yeah, you were right. I like you more than the average customer. But you were a customer nonetheless. I tried not to encourage your flirting too much, but you know, it helped sell booze." He shrugged, smiling sheepishly. "I'm trying to run a business here, after all." He slung the tea towel over his shoulder and sighed. "And right now, I just… can't. I'll work on my issues, but it's not a switch I can just flip, you know."

"I get it. I was just curious, that's all," Marco reassured him. "I mean, I'd have liked to see if this was something," he gestured between the two of them, "but that's because I think you're cute. Not because I'm ready to declare my undying love or something. I'll get over it."

Ace's lips curled into a smile. "Thanks."

Meanwhile, Stephan had finished his water and sniffing all new, interesting things in the bar. He walked back up to Marco and barked, making for the door and running back when Marco didn't immediately follow him.

Marco laughed. "Seems like he still has some energy left. I'd better let him burn that all before taking him home." He picked up the leash he had placed on the bar and emptied his glass. "Let me know if there is anything I can do to help. Or if those mobsters come back."

"It wasn't just me being a bitch when I said I could handle myself," Ace replied, crossing his arms before his chest. "I've dealt with them before."

"Just… stay safe," Marco said, scratching the back of his head. "Can I still come here?"

"That depends," Ace replied, cocking his head to the side, "whether you come to check up on me, or for the booze."

Marco's lips curled into a smirk. "What do you think?"


End file.
